Archive for May, 2007

The Transit Crisis Continues and
Your Help Is Needed to End it

After a holiday weekend, the morning trip back to work is always hard.

Now imagine your trip costing substantially more than it costs today for we are facing an 11% increase in SEPTA fares in July and a total increase of 30% by September.

The cash fare will go up from $2.00 to $2.50, an increase of 25%

Transfers will be eliminated so a token and transfer will go up from $1.90 to $2.80, an increase of 47%

A weekly transpass wil go up from $18.75 to $25.00, an increase of 33%

A monthly transpass will go up from $70 to $105, an increase of 57%

Zones 1 and 2 on the regional rail will be merged. A monthly combined zone 1 / 2 regional rail pass will go up from $70 (zone 1) or $106 (zone 2) to $143.50, an increase of 105 and 35 respectively.

And, whether you find SEPTA’s service adequate or not now, imagine what your commute will look like if SEPTA reduces service by 20%

If you take the bus, you will wait longer, as many SEPTA buses that now run every thirty minutes will now run every sixty (route 27) or seventy minutes (route 22). And, less frequent buses will more crowded buses. Come September, you will find yourself standing many mornings and evenings.

If you take a train, you will also find fewer, more crowded trains.

And if you drive, you will find the find the roads more crowded. Faced with a 30% fare increase, many more people will decide to drive to work instead of taking a bus or train. So the road will be crowded

And if you take public transit on Saturdays and Sundays, you might just give it up, as Saturday service will follow the current Sunday schedule and Sunday service will be heavily reduced or eliminate.

That is what we are facing in September if SEPTA, and the 38 other transit agencies in the Commonwealth, don’t get new, adequate, dedicated funding. And it won’t just be commuters who suffer. SEPTA is the school bus for most of the High School and College students in the city. It is the way most senior citizens and disabled folks get around the city.

And SEPTA is critical to the economy of the Greater Philadelphia Region and the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

You Can Help US Fight Back

Citizens from around the state are demanding that Governor Rendell and the General Assembly finally provide transit systems with the funding they need, not just to survive in their current state but to expand and grow.

Here is what you can do In the Philadelphia Region this week:

Rally for Transit, Thursday, May 31, 12:00 Noon, Dilworth Plaza (West side of City Hall)

Call or Email your legislators now. (A list of legislators with their phone numbers and email addresses can be found on our website.)

Sign the Petition: No Legislative Transit Without Public Transit. We Demand that legislators give up their free transit until they solve our transit problem. You can sign online at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ptc1/